TRUMP’S WORDS OF OPPRESSION—ETYMOLOGY PART 2

YESTERDAY WE BEGAN ANALYSES of the Trump administration’s means of oppression. Today in Part 2 we focus on propaganda as a tool, retribution as a goal, and an easy catch-all pejorative. We conclude with a truly chilling FAR (Federal Acquisition Regulation) that resonates with centuries ago.

The Power of Misinformation. “An Example: Garcia’s Tatts” discussed Trump touting an apparently altered photo “PROVING” the MS-13 membership of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. 

A screengrab of a post on Truth Social via The New York Times.

Add to this the 2020 election “fix” and January 6 “tourism.” Lewis Carroll’s Bellman in The Hunting of the Snark had it all too right: “I have said it thrice: What I tell you three times is true.”

The Bellman didn’t mention the impact of ALL CAPS. 

The Queens Felon’s Retribution. Alexandra Hutzler recounts, “Trump Has Taken Steps to Make his Campaign Promise to Seek ‘Retribution’ Reality, Critics Say,” ABC News, April 29, 2025. It’s scary enough to recall, as Hutzler does, “Trump told supporters at his first 2024 rally, back in March 2023: ‘I am your retribution.’ ”

Geez, I hear the voice of Edward G. Robinson in one of his 1930s gangster roles.

Image from “The Most Happy Felon—A Screenplay.”

Playing the Slang Numbers. Also in the repudiation theme is Trump’s inane attack as reported by Rachel Treisman’s “James Comey Is Under Investigation for his ‘8647’ Instagram Post. What Does It Mean?,” NPR, May 16, 2025. “On Thursday,” Treisman recounts, “Comey shared a picture on Instagram of seashells on a beach arranged into the numbers ‘8647.’ The caption read: ‘Cool shell formation on my beach walk.’ ” 

Treisman continues, “ ‘Eighty-six’ is a slang term that means ‘get rid of,’ and Trump is the 47th (and 45th) president of the United States. According to Merriam-Webster, the most common meaning of 86—which has its roots in the service industry—is to ‘throw out’ or ‘refuse service to’ a customer. The dictionary notes that the term has also come to mean ‘to kill.’ But the dictionary says it does not include this meaning in the official entry ‘due to its relative recency and sparseness of use.’ “

Unless, of course, you’re the Queens Felon still smarting from Comey’s F.B.I. days. 

“86ing”? What About “Termination”? A related slang/etymological example is Trump’s recently writing that the Federal Reserve’s Jerome Powell’s “termination can’t come soon enough.”

It sounds like something from The Godfather.

“Detrimental to Critical American Interests.” And then there’s Trump’s catch-all “conduct detrimental to critical American interests.” More accurately, of course, it’s conduct that may be detrimental to Trump. Consider his assault on the Associated Press in the latter’s editorial preference to continue with the rest of the world’s “Gulf of Mexico.” Also the administration’s partnering of Voice of America with the Trump-doting On America News. 

The Scariest. And the most recent: Minho Kim and Tim Balk recount, “Trump Administration Fires Hundreds of Voice of America Employees,” The New York Times, May 15, 2026. 

I find it particular particularly scary when Kim and Balk cite, “In a letter sent on Thursday to employees who had been fired, the Trump administration cited ‘the government’s convenience’ as a reason for the terminations.” You’re welcome to read the definition of this, as noted in a FAR (Federal Acquisition Regulation) Effective Date 01/17/2025.

Daughter Suz, who works often with government contracts (including foreign ones), tells me that a FAR insertion citing “the government’s convenience” is a common one in many documents. Nevertheless, I find it chilling when applied to personal terminations.  

“The government’s convenience” reminds me of a snuff-sniffing royal in powdered wig. Isn’t this what the Declaration of Independence was all about? ds

© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2025